PooooPaloosa

Today little Jim was sleeping it off. What you ask? Oh, he was exhausted from the PooooPaloosa we had yesterday.

He woke yesterday morning straining and straining for all he was worth. He was getting quite upset after about 10 to 15 mins of pushing, so I decided to go see if I could help in any way. I removed his diaper, which revealed a dollop of poo so thick you could spackle with it. I was instantly thankful that he isn't a toddler yet, or I'm sure he'd have tried it!

I called the nurses line and went through this exchange:

Nurse: What seems to be the problem?

Me: Jim is constipated, what do I need to do to help him?

Nurse: How long has he been like this? What do his stools look like?

Me: (not sure why it matters, but...) It started yesterday, with a stool like thick toothpaste, and today it is more like very, very thick cake icing. (I couldn't think of anything else at the time).

Nurse: Then he isn't constipated. Have you tried rectal stimulation yet?

Me: No, he can poo.

Nurse: If his stools aren't in hard pellets then he isn't constipated. You should try rectal stimulation!

Me: Why should we wait for "hard pellets"? It is already taking him 20 mins to move a poo the size of a marshmallow.

Nurse: Oh, then he is constipated. You need to give him 1/2 of a child's size glycerin suppository.

Me: Thanks. (Like I didn't know what constipation was lady - I HAVE BEEN PREGNANT recently!!! Idiot!)

SO, Mommy traipses off to the bathroom and inserts said suppository... And we wait... And we wait... PPPPPPPPPPPLLLBBBBBBBBBTTTTTTTTT! Happy baby!

We eat a little, spitup about 1/2, and then Squuuuuiiiiiiish! A full load again!

We eat a little and rest a little for the rest of the day, with multiple poots and poos thrown in for good measure. By the time Daddy got home the WHOLE HOUSE smelled like poo, but our little man seemed to be happy again.

However, by the end of the night his poor tummy was terribly torn up and his stomach was so distended and hard that we placed a call to the Pedi. All was well though, so no trips to the ER.

He was able to get some real sleep last night and slept almost all day today.